Survive

Small businesses are the beating heart of America. But in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, almost half of all small businesses in America faced the possibility of closure within three months. Facebook needed to remind people that we all have a part to play in the survival of the places we love. So to illustrate the need to act, we chose the story of recently closed Coogan’s, a place that was legendary to the people of Washington Heights, this once vibrant restaurant and bar becoming our symbol for the fight many small businesses were facing against equally uncertain futures.

We launched with a long-form film that showed the special meaning Coogan’s held with the local community. Since Peter Walsh opened its doors in 1985, Coogan’s had embodied the best of New York: diverse, welcoming and friendly. The film spotlighted the unfortunate closing of this local institution, the community that cherished it, and co-owners Peter, Tess and Dave’s fundraising efforts to protect the other small businesses in the neighborhood from a similar fate. For every dollar raised, Facebook matched up to the first $100,000 in donations.

A nationwide TVC told an abridged version of this story. Directed by Miles Jay and shot by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young, the film blends archival imagery of Coogan’s history with UGC from FB platforms. Interspersed with this is 35mm footage showing the strive to survive mentality of Peter out on an evening run and portraits of patrons in the neighborhood—now disconnected from their second home. Every line of the accompanying voice over is delivered by the real owners, staff and customers to create a chorus of community—a contrast of connection and disconnection from the place they loved.

Gloria Gaynor’s Grammy Award winning disco hit ‘I Will Survive’ is an anthem instantly recognizable from the opening lyrics. We wanted to re-imaging these poignant lyrics and give them new purpose alongside the plight many small businesses were facing. So, we enlisted the help of artist Lykke Li, her hauntingly beautiful voice creating a bittersweet performance appropriate for Peter’s story.

The launch of the campaign introduced Facebook’s “Support Small Business” icon—a symbol that showed Facebook’s commitment to small businesses and allowed the public and business owners to show or garner support.

Showing up in store window fronts, film, social and OOH the icon motivated people to join in. Stickers on FB & IG platforms allowed people to spotlight their local small businesses in need alongside other social tools to help them share, shop or show their commitment.

OOH and radio highlighted multiple small businesses around America. From record stores to comic book shops, watering holes to soul food staples, over 2000 small businesses across 10 cities were featured as either the subject matter or as a media channel.

Many small businesses needed to get the word out that they were open again. So we used Facebook’s media spend and targeted digital OOH to dynamically drive foot traffic to local businesses directly nearby.

On-platform, we released sound-off social films that used words from the signage of small businesses to create visual sentences. Each piece came together to tell the story of the independent and eclectic spirit that was in danger of being lost. In this particular film, a Texas blues instrumental of ‘I Will Survive’ seemed appropriate for the soulful city of Austin.

The film garnered over 23 million views and drove 2 million clicks to the Support Small Business Hub to raise much needed funds. This was just the first step in helping small businesses across the country get back on their feet. The campaign gave people a real, emotional reminder of all the intangible value that small businesses bring to them and their communities, and created a sense of agency among consumers to believe their actions can make a tangible difference.